Brangeta's topic about 4th gen Camaro history

[Brangeta]

I decided to make this topic for several reasons.

First, I don't have my own website or blog to put this information on. Second, if I did, nobody would look at it, because I wouldn't update it often enough, and I'd never promote it enough to get more than just 5 regular readers.

But I suppose my main reason for wanting to make this topic is to show these pictures and bits of information I've collected over the years. I want to share the information with others, because much of this info is lost from the internet. There don't seem to be too many 4th gen Camaro experts out there (I haven't noticed any at least) when it comes to what I know/remember and there certainly isn't much information still on the internet about the LT1 Camaros especially. I'm sure there are people who work for GM, such as Scott Settlemire, who know far more than me, but they aren't making this topic are they?

So look to this topic to see some of the quirky and AMAZING things that came out mostly during the '90s for Camaros. For example, I'll be showing scans from magazines of products that were available back in the day, but no longer... pictures I've collected from the internet over the past 10 years... and showcasing some of the amazing showcars GM, SLP, and others created back in the day. So if you're one of the guys on here who has no idea GM created a '94 Camaro ZL1 prototype with a 572 cubic inch V8 and 770 hp or that one of SLP's first prototype SS Camaros (for creating the '96 SSes) was made from one of the 633 '93 Indy Pace Car Replicas (it's now solid black with the original pace car interior), then stay tuned, because I'm going to try to show off some of these unique bits of history when I get inspired/bored enough to add things to this topic.

I'm not a very good writer, so hopefully my writing will be entertaining and easy enough to understand for all of you. If anyone has anything they'd like to add to this topic, please do. Just try to make sure your information you type is correct, and if you can, provide some pictures.

[Brangeta]

For my first post in this topic, I'm showing something I scanned out of the Dec 2000 issue of Super Chevy. I've personally never seen one of these, and was surprised to see it advertised in the magazine in a section about what's new for SEMA.


I'm even MORE surprised to find out that they still offer these on their website! Does anyone here own one?
http://grantproducts.com/showapplica...%20Z%2028%20RS

[Brangeta]

Some of you may know a little about this car, or have at least seen it on the internet. It's one of the most expensive privately commissioned 4th gen Camaro customs I know of. It is owned by Audrey and John Glister and all work was done by Specter Werkes in Troy, Michigan.


They call it the 1999 Camaro GTZ, and it's fairly special. The plastic grill was removed, and the area behind it was smoothed. The RS style ground effects were modified to not have the break in the middle of the front end. The hood was a one-off design based on the hood of a Ferrari 550 Maranello. It was painted Hugger Orange and white.

Although I don't care to get too technical, I'll mention a few things. It has a stroked LS1 (382 cubic inches), lowering springs, HRE 18 inch wheels, Michelin Pilot tires, Hotchkiss subframe connectors, shock tower brace, sway bars, and torque arm. The intake plenum was painted orange and carbon fiber fuel rail covers with the GTZ logo were added.


The entire interior was customized with orange and white leather. The rear seat was modified to have headrests for the backseat passengers and the front seats were reshaped as well. Perhaps even more extravagant is the gauge overlay. It isn't just an orange painted overlay like you'd assume. They actually commissioned Delphi Automotive (who made the gauge overlays for our cars) to make one in orange and white.


Here's one last pic:

If there's a positive response from you guys about me doing this history stuff, I'll continue doing it.

[68z28]

Lots of interest here Brange! subscribed....

[MasterZ28]

eh, you may continue, i would like to know more.

[FiefSS]

More More! I had never seen that orange car before its quite... nifty!

[Brangeta]

I'm glad to see there's some interest! I want to start out strong in this topic, so the next thing I'm going to talk about is the Mecham Z29R. Probably one of the most confusing Camaros I can think of. "WTF is a Z29R? Sounds like some sort of Honda crap " is the usual response.

Famous enough that some Camaro fans have heard of them, but not famous enough that many people have seen one (I haven't, though I've seen a Mecham T/A, and it looked pretty good). And certainly not famous enough that the average Camaro enthusiast would know that some of the parts they offer are REALLY unique. Even their website doesn't do a good job of saying how unusual their spoiler is in reality. And what if someone was looking for an SS style spoiler that stuck out 3 inches? Silly Mecham and their poor product descriptions...

I don't know how many were made (supposedly about 20 according to the owner of #003), and I haven't seen too many online, so I can't pretend to be an expert on them. Luckily though, I do have the May 2000 issue of Chevy High Performance that has an article on one that is white with maroon stripes, production number 001.


Mecham allowed various configurations of parts, which can be read about here:
http://www.mechamperformance.com/m_docs/z29r.html

The Mecham Z29R features a ram air hood with functional rear extractor port that vents underhood heat and pressure.



The Mecham rear spoiler is 3 inches longer than the stock Z28 spoiler, and according to CHP magazine, it has "improved angles to create a functional lever of downforce." According to owners of the spoiler I've talked to online, it is essentially a merger of the '96-'97 SS spoiler and the '98-'02 SS spoiler, except it's a bit longer and marginally taller. It lacks the center stacks of the '98+ SS spoiler. One owner told me he honestly didn't like the spoiler because it looks too long without the center stacks.

Here is a Z28 with the spoiler by itself:


To me, the most attractive thing Mecham offers is the exhaust tips. Don't ask me why one is really long. I really have no idea.


The article in the magazine was very complimentary of the performance improvements, but I don't feel the need to type about them. In top form, I'd imagine it is worthy of the "R" badge, but I'd be kind of embarrassed to own one personally. The badge Z29R just isn't well known enough, and you'd probably get constant hate for the red R.

[fxgs]

Keep up the good work.....................great info...................thanx

[Brangeta]

Originally Posted by fxgs

Keep up the good work.....................great info...................thanx

Your user name looks familiar. I'm glad to see you're on here!

[Injuneer]

Would you be interested in a couple photos of John Moss's big block Camaro. I can send you the originals if you want. I took these a few years ago at an SLP Customer Appreciation Day at Englishtown (NJ) Raceway Park.

[Brangeta]

Hey Injuneer, did you forget to email me?

I would have said it in PM, but I wanted a cheap way of bringing my topic back to the top

[68z28]

Ttt

[Brangeta]

I'll try to add something new sometime during the week, or this weekend. Any requests?

[DAKMOR]

How about something on the 3.8L?

[Brangeta]

Originally Posted by DAKMOR

How about something on the 3.8L?

In all honesty, I don't know much about engines (with regard to anything you couldn't already find online), especially the 3.8L one.

I just know the facts; that it was offered in 1995 on Camaros in California, and from 1996 to 2002 it was the only V6 offered on Camaros.